How is MRSA spread?

If you have MRSA, it can be spread to a visitor if you have contact with their skin, especially if it's sore or broken, or if they handle personal items you have used, such as towels, bandages or razors. Visitors can also catch MRSA from contaminated surfaces or hospital devices or items.

How to stop visitors catching MRSA

Visitors can reduce the risk of catching MRSA from a hospital patient they are visiting (and the other way around) by:

cleaning their hands just before and just after touching the patient

cleaning their hands before entering and after leaving the ward

Remind your visitors to clean their hands with soap and water or alcohol gel. Alcohol gel or hand rub dispensers are often placed near hospital beds and at the entrances to wards and bays or near lifts. Visitors can pick up organisms from the environment around you without even touching you.

If visitors have breaks in their skin, such as a sore or cut, they should keep them covered with a dressing to limit the risk of the MRSA getting into their body.